Would you consider owning a Chinese car?

[RobRich]

Various Chinese automobile manufacturers are expected to begin exporting vehicles to the United States in the upcoming few years. The prices are likely to be affordable, and the fuel economy could even potentially be above market averages. Naturally, the trade off is supporting the Chinese government and probably further increasing our trade deficits. With these considerations in mind, would you consider owning a Chinese car?

[The Real Bingo]

Unless they contract some American companies to make a large part of the car, no...I don't think I'd consider it, even if it's cheap and fuel efficient. If gas gets so high as to have me considering a clown car for fuel mileage, I think I'd just get a motorcycle.

[RayH]

I don't know that I would want to be the first kid on the block to get a Chinese automobile because of parts distribution issues, but I think that their overall quality might not be as poor as imagined in people's minds. Many Americans would be shocked to know that a lot of AMERICAN cars are designed with appleal to the Chinese in mind. The Chinese consumer saved the Buick plate when the question was to toss Oldsmobile or Buick. Chinese are also ready to tackle the high end of the auto market.

The Chinese, as a whole, as to come together to insure quality manufacturing. Anybody old enough to remember when Made In Japan was synonomous with junk?

[Toadman]

Taking into account past quality issues and a penchant for making rip-off copies of western products I don't think they will exceed nor meet CAFE and NHTSA crash standards for at least half a decade. Remains to be seen at this point. They should look at Hyundai's storied history for reference, who flooded America with $4,995 cheap Excels that they still have to de-stygmatize with generous warranties, even with a vastly improved model line and quality. I wonder who China's targeted buyer will be? Are they going to open showrooms at Walmart?

[RobRich]

Don't be so quick to laugh, as IIRC, Wal-Mart ran an used car dealership trial in TN for awhile.

AFAIK, select Chinese manufacturers are working to meet U.S. crash test standards, with that being one of the reasons Chinese cars in the U.S. have been delayed by a couple of years.

Some Chinese cars probably already meet or exceed U.S. safety standards. For example, the Roewe 750 is basically an updated Rover 75. Then again, the Roewe 750 is not exactly an entry-level car, as the standard model sells new for about $29,000 in China.

[Mike]

Will the parts used in the Chinese cars be cheap and unreliable? If so, I doubt I will be one of the first handful of people to try out a Chinese-brand car. Assuming Rob is right in the fact that several Chinese car makers are working to meet U.S. safety standards, then we'll have to wait and see what happens to the first batch of cars.

Originally Posted by RayH

Anybody old enough to remember when Made In Japan was synonomous with junk?

I thought part of that was due to the fact that tensions between the United States and Japan were still rather... volatile.

[RobRich]

Originally Posted by Mike

Will the parts used in the Chinese cars be cheap and unreliable? If so, I doubt I will be one of the first handful of people to try out a Chinese-brand car. Assuming Rob is right in the fact that several Chinese car makers are working to meet U.S. safety standards, then we'll have to wait and see what happens to the first batch of cars.

Look at the parts sources for modern U.S. cars, be they domestics or imports. Many of the underlying parts are already coming from China.

Originally Posted by Mike

I thought part of that was due to the fact that tensions between the United States and Japan were still rather... volatile.

There actually was a time when Japan flooded the U.S. market with inexpensive and supbar quality merchandise. The idea was to establish a market foothold, then improve quality as revenues increased. Many Japanese companies invested those increasing revenues to advance their R&D and QA as means to compete on the international market.

[Toadman]

Sounds like Hyundai and Kia both. The Japanese call it Kansei Engineering, "constant improvement".

[no1_vern]

Since probably about 1/3 of the parts in my present car are Chinese made I dont see a real problem. Safety for people is the real issue for their vehicles. Once they get those problems ironed out, I figure they will be selling like hotcakes.

[RobRich]

For some ideas of what to expect, check out the following models.

Upmarket sedan: Roewe 750 - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Midmarket coupe: Geely CD - Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

Econosport coupe: Frankfurt Preview: Geely BL